Larry Branagin (nominee for deacon) has had a diverse career in many different companies, specializing in construction trades, engineering, management, administration and computer technologies. He has been married to his wife Judy for 49 years, and they were blessed with two children (Laura Ackerman is his daughter) and two grandchildren, Elliott and Quinn. They moved to Bryan from the DFW area, where Larry served on the diaconate in Fort Worth Presbyterian Church (PCA), and as a deacon on loan to plant Trinity Presbyterian Church, also in Fort Worth. God has given him the desire to use his skills and knowledge to serve the church.
I was exposed early in life to an introduction to Jesus Christ, through parents and while attending church services, Sunday School, and Vacation Bible School at the Air Force base chapels where my father was stationed. The services were generic, because you got the “Flavor of the Week” (whichever denomination of the chaplain who was on duty).
However, I didn’t get baptized until I was in high school, when I joined the Methodist Church in Bossier City, LA. Throughout my college years, my personal walk of faith was more like “A Hop, Skip and a Jump” depending upon life’s many challenges. My life took a dramatic turn when I met and married a beautiful, lovely Hoosier Girl named Judith. Judy was the “Force of Nature” in my life that helped me turn my ship around. I can truly say the early years of marriage were a growth period for me; I matured beyond my wildest dreams.
Little did I realize that our Sovereign God was using life’s challenges to guide me in the directions of his desires. Typical of many Christians, my personal walk of faith has paralleled the many challenges of life, including college, marriage, establishing a career, birth of children. job transfer, new jobs, life threatening diseases, loss of loved ones… all have an element of both anxiety and excitement. Throughout these challenges and trials, I’ve learned that God’s love and mercy have no boundaries and he uses trials to build our character, as we are forced to rely on his sovereignty.Our spiritual lives were greatly impacted when we became members of the First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Kosciusko, MS. It was the first time we had been exposed to a reformed doctrine. Now five PCA churches later, we are still growing in the faith. As I have experienced a full life, my faith has grown proportionally to the point it is centric to my life.
